Every EU state would agree to extend article 50 for a people’s vote on a bad deal or the one the UK has got, the former UK ambassador to the EU who drafted article 50 writes.
Now, in the cold light of a Brexit dawn, we have a withdrawal agreement that will see the European court handing down rulings binding on the UK for years – if not decades – to come, with us trapped in a backstop deal from which, as the attorney general has confirmed, there is no unilateral escape. Meanwhile we would face endless negotiations to create what would only ever be second-class access to Europe’s markets and, lest we forget, a £50bn divorce bill.
Little wonder that the government has had to look for other arguments to support the deal. What it has hit on is that an alternative to its Brexit is an even worse Brexit. It talks up the prospect of a “no-deal” option – of jammed ports, grounded aeroplanes and emptied supermarket shelves – with the same relish that bad parents use when trying to scare their children into bed with tales of monsters.
But we now know that the idea that this choice – a bad deal or no deal – is as much a fantastical nightmare as the earlier promises about Brexit were a dream. [...]
So the choice is between a bad Brexit deal and sticking with the deal we have in the EU. And it’s a choice for the people. I don’t think it would be right for parliament to just vote to stop the Brexit process. The people started this with their vote and they must make the final decision.
Almost certainly that will require some extension of the article 50 deadline beyond 29 March. The treaty is very clear about this – it can be done but requires unanimity among all EU states. If our purpose in asking for an extension was to allow time for a referendum, there is no doubt that all would agree. Brexit would be bad for everyone, though obviously worst for us.
And that leads me to one more, final, Brexiter fantasy, that we would ask for an extension to negotiate a “better” Brexit. For that there is no enthusiasm in any European capital. Dreams of a Norway-for-now-or-ever are just that – dreams.
The deal we have been offered is not what was promised and it’s not nearly as good as the deal we’ve got in the EU, but it’s the only Brexit offer on the table.
Today was the day the terms of the debate changed because, if MPs and ultimately the British people, think it’s a bad deal, we know we can reject it without fear. [...]
Full op-ed on The Guardian
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